All In The Family
10/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 23, 2000
By Jay Reddick
Heather Aughinbaugh can truly say she is living out a childhood dream by playing field hockey at Wake Forest. But then, she's been playing on a "field of dreams" for about three years now.
Aughinbaugh, a sophomore attacker for the Deacs, truly comes from a Pennsylvania field hockey family. Two of her aunts are coaches (one, Nan Whitley, coaches just up the road at Catawba College), her mother is a former high school coach and just about all of her female relatives (including four sisters and several cousins) have played or still play field hockey on some level, in youth or adult club leagues.
One aunt, Alice Kay Ullrich, took her love for the sport to another level. She built a full-size hockey field in her back yard.
"We call it the field of dreams," Aughinbaugh said. "It's been there for about three years. It's grass, but it works."
It has certainly helped Aughinbaugh, who has emerged as a force on this year's team that has ranked among the top five nationally. Through 15 games, her 10 goals and 26 points were second on the squad, and she recently had a streak of eight straight games with a goal.
Brimming with confidence, Aughinbaugh expected herself and her team to dominate this season. It just took a while to get going.
"I started the season real slow," Aughinbaugh said. "Once we started to get into some really competitive matches, I stepped up my play. I guess it was at the right time."
Indeed, the squad knocked off conference rival Duke, along with top-five powerhouses Maryland and Michigan. As the season winds toward its conclusion, North Carolina has been the only team to solve Wake Forest so far.
There's a bit of irony in that for Aughinbaugh. Playing big-time hockey in this state has always been in her plans, she thought she might be wearing baby blue right about now.
"My dream since I was very little was always to play Division I hockey," Aughinbaugh said. "I wanted to go to Carolina until my junior year in high school. I went to camp there and everything, but I didn't know if it would really happen. Carolina never really recruited me, but I was looking at a bunch of big schools, then Wake called, and I came down and visited and loved it. I always had the dream of playing, I just didn't really expect it."
Aughinbaugh got only nine starts as a freshman last year, but impressed coaches with the way she closed the season as an offensive force. This year, she has concentrated on giving the Deacs an early spark and playing a more complete game.
"I feel like I've generated attack in the beginning of games," Aughinbaugh said. "I scored a goal against Maryland in the first 38 seconds. Things like that are really important to get us going.
"Lately I've been playing more defensive-minded, which was never my thing before. I got yelled at a lot last year for my defense, but this season (coach) Jen (Averill) keeps saying, ?You're playing great.'"
As the season has progressed, she's been challenged more and more defensively and offensively but has been up to it all. Most recently, she began an offensive onslaught against American on Oct. 15 by assisting on the first goal of the game.
She's also been a big factor in establishing chemistry on the field, which she calls the key to the team's winning streak.
"It's obvious that individually, other teams are more skilled, but we have such unity and play so well together that that's why we're as successful as we are," Aughinbaugh said.
Besides preparing her for the upcoming season, this summer was also important for Aughinbaugh because she may have found a career. After considering pharmacy school or "something in the medical field," she worked at the Wake Forest field hockey camp this summer, and loved it.
"I never wanted to coach, but after this summer, I think coaching high school would be really fun, especially in the area around my home," Aughinbaugh said. "I've always wanted to do something with children. I like to help them. You can see them develop more. And kids look up to you a lot. It's neat that they ask you what you can do better, when we're usually the ones asking our coaches the same questions."
Aughinbaugh is still looking hard at medicine (she's planning to major in Health and Exercise Science), but she knows she'll always stay involved with field hockey in some capacity.
"I'll definitely play when I'm older," Aughinbaugh said. "I grew up in a very athletic family, and I liked field hockey from the beginning. I can't imagine leaving it behind."